Violent clients, traumatised victims, late payment - the life of a court interpreter

Magdalena Glowacka (The Guardian) / News
/ 16 March 2012

Very few people know what the life of a professional interpreter is like. I have worked as a Polish interpreter for a number of years, and although I am probably not the most experienced person in the field, I have worked long enough to find the deal under which the Ministry of Justice has contracted Applied Language Solutions to supply all linguistic services in English and Wales unacceptable. We are not too greedy or proud to accept the new rules. We can see how how flawed they are.

Only very few professions require someone to be totally flexible - and I mean totally. I no longer recall how many times I have been called in the middle of the night to come down to a police station to interpret for someone in custody, or to assist with a witness statement, nor how many times I have had to call off a meeting with people I care about because the job comes first.